Jane Nolan
PhD student and committee co-chair
Jane is a part time Doctoral Candidate in SELLL researching English and Employability, and a Lecturer in Enterprise with the International Centre for Music Studies, Newcastle University. She has a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature, an MA in English Literature, both from SELLL, an MBA and a PG Certifiacate in Research Training. She has been recognised as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Prior to joining Newcastle University, she was an owner and Chief Executive of a multi-award winning technical clothing company. Jane was awarded the MBE for services to UK Exports, won a UKTI Individual Achievement in Export award and was the 2006 NE Woman Rural Entrepreneur of the Year. She has also played a proactive role in the community for many years, including working as a charity trustee. She sings in a chamber choice, enjoys learning to speak French and loves walking in the countryside.
Jane has been involved with the Researching our Futures project form the beginning and in her role as Joint Chair of the Student Committee, has been very closely involved with the organisation of the conference, from securing PGR Innovation funding to marketing and promotion. She sees the conference as an opportunity to reflect on the complex and valuable skill-set which PhD researchers develop, which can be applied in a wide range of careers.
Cristina Peligra
PhD student and committee co-chair
Cristina is a second year AHRC-funded PhD student in Translation Studies at Newcastle University. Her research deals with textual and paratextual translation strategies to tackle issues of culture and identity in Dutch postcolonial fiction. She holds a PG Certificate in Research Training from Newcastle University, and a Master’s degree in Modern Languages for International Communication and Cooperation from the University of Padua, Italy, where she learned German and Dutch. She also studied in Leiden, The Netherlands, and in Würzburg, Germany, where she focused on Intercultural Competence. She enjoys meeting new people and speaking different languages, two central tasks in her previous work experiences and current volunteering activities. She loves rock climbing, sci-fi fiction and thriller films, but mainly to travel.
Cristina has also organised the HaSS First Year PG Conference in June 2016 and worked since then on the RoF Conference 2017. She has gathered the PhD researchers’ feedback, and their doubts, fears and wishes for their future, to shape this year’s event according to their needs. As joint Chair of the RoF Student Committee, she has successfully applied for funding, acted as speakers’ liaison, written blog posts and promotional material. She wishes that this conference will help her peers to understand the variety of research skills and their value in many different professional and academic fields.
Alix Ferrer-Yulfo
PhD student and committee member
I have just started the second year of my PhD in Media, Culture, Heritage at the School of Arts and Cultures at Newcastle University, for which I am focusing on museums and intangible cultural heritage management. I have worked in the education, tourism and culture sectors in very different roles; I’ve been a humanities instructor at different colleges, a cultural promoter with the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, a visitor services assistant in various museums and a project coordinator for the Casa del Libro Museum. Through these experiences I’ve realized the importance of being a well-rounded professional and how key is to take advantage of the different professional development opportunities you can encounter. For this reason, I decided to get involved with the Researching Our Futures Conference: an opportunity to gain knowledge on how to improve your personal and professional development strategies, network with like-minded individuals, and put your skills into good use and get yourself “out-there”.
Michael Cribbs
PhD student and committee member
My name is Michael Cribbs and I am a third year Creative Writing PhD student. I wanted to get involved with Researching Our Futures because I am unsure what type of employment to pursue when my studies are completed.
Chris Whiting
Phd student and committee member
My title is currently ‘Observing and Theorising Songwriting Praxis through Auto-Ethnography’ which aims to develop a methodology for understanding our engagement with creative practices. I got involved with the RoF Conference to gain experience in organising an academic event. It has been a great opportunity to further my understanding and application of social media working within a committee.
Chris Wheeler
PhD student and committee member
My involvement on the Conference Organising Committee has been rewarding in both the short-term and long-term. In the short-term, my involvement has enabled me to meet and work with a wonderful group of fellow PhD students from other disciplines whom I might not otherwise have had an opportunity to interact with on a regular basis. In the long-term, I know the valuable insights about various academic, professional, and non-professional networks gained from my committee involvement will make me better prepared to assess where my expertise can be put to use in the future after completing my PhD. Finally, as an international PhD student, I cannot emphasise enough the importance of getting involved for the reasons mentioned above, as well as those highlighted by my fellow committee members.
Angelika Strohmayer
PhD student and committee member
I am a PhD student in Digital Civics exploring the ways in which we can design technologies with and for sex work support services to further justice outcomes. I got involved with RoF because I wanted to learn more about potential careers outside of academia and to engage with students from other disciplines. Being on the committee has been a great experience and has been an opportunity for me to learn more about the university’s technology infrastructure.
Csilla Csoke
PhD student and committee member
Csilla is a first year PhD student in Media. Her project will examine and compare how the East European immigration is represented in British print and online press, and how the topic of migration is represented in Hungarian media.
She holds an MA degree in Journalism & Political Communication from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and she finished her BA studies in University of Novi Sad, Serbia.
During her studies she took part in several projects and media research, with the accent on the majority-minority relationships and how certain nations, religious groups and children are presented in media, especially in the post-war area in former Yugoslavia.
She spent nearly 12 years working as a journalist, programme and news editor, and beside this she was an event organiser and PR officer, organising a three days long art competition for highs school students.
As an Intern, she supports the committee, updates the social media, the website and the blog, prepares and edits the conference booklets. She enjoys working for such an honorable event where hopefully everyone can hear some answers on their questions.
The ideal job for her would be working for a media research institute, examining – of course – the majority-minority relationships.